CNN exec denies role as pro Iraq war Pentagon mouthpiece

BACKSPIN FOR WAR ... The Convenience of Denial

By NORMAN SOLOMON -- Information Clearing House -- http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18203.htm

08/17/07 "ICH " -- -- The man who ran CNN's news operation during the invasion of Iraq is now doing damage control in response to a new documentary's evidence that he kowtowed to the Pentagon on behalf of the cable network. His current denial says a lot about how "liberal media" outlets remain deeply embedded in the mindsets of pro-military conformity.

In mid-August, the former CNN executive publicly defended himself against a portion of the "War Made Easy" film (based on my book of the same name) that has drawn much comment from viewers since the documentary's release earlier this summer. As Inter Press Service reported, the movie shows "a news clip of Eason Jordan, a CNN News chief executive who, in an interview with CNN, boasts of the network's cadre of professional 'military experts.' In fact, CNN's retired military generals turned war analysts were so good, Eason said, that they had all been vetted and approved by the U.S. government."

Inter Press called the vetting-and-approval process "shocking" -- and added that "in a country revered for its freedom of speech and unfettered press, Eason's comments would infuriate any veteran reporter who upholds the most basic and important tenet of the journalistic profession: independence."

SOURCE: Information Clearing House -- URL: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18203.htm

Notes from Reg Crowder on the online resources available to learn more about "War Made Easy," both the book and the documentary

This is turning into a rough year for CNN. First they got caught bringing in an employee of a right-wing think tank to critique Michael Moore's documentary on the collapse of the US healthcare system.  (CNN concealed the so-called "independent" expert's ties to the right-wing think tank.) Now they are caught on video tape demonstrating total subservience to the US government in the coverage of the Iraq war.

On to the documentary, "War Made Easy." A treasure trove of information and links can be found at: http://www.WarMadeEasy.com. One particularly interesting link leads to the DemocracyNow.org website. It features the transcript of an interview between Amy Goodman and author Norman Solomon.  But it gets better. It also offers links to free audio and video downloads relating to the book and the documentary: You'll find them here: URL:   http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/29/1322235 

The documentary raises another provocative issue: The extent to which copyright laws can be used to block legitimate reporting of important public issues. Joe Garofoli, writing the the San Francisco Chronical and on SFGate.com said the documentary is a direct challenge to the federal copyright laws.  In essence, he says the media critic is testing the limits of the copyright law's "fair use" doctrine:

"The new documentary 'War Made Easy' isn't just a searing critique of how administrations over the past 40 years have manipulated the media to build support for war," Garofoli wrote. "The 72-minute film is a media provocation itself -- a challenge to federal copyright laws.  Based on a 2005 book by (San Francisco) Bay area media critic Norman Solomon and narrated by actor Sean Penn, roughly 90 percent of  'War Made Easy' consists of archival news footage from major television networks that would cost a ton of money to license -- if the filmmakers had paid for all of it; they bought only about 60 percent from distributors. The filmmakers say they are protected under the 'fair use' provision of federal copyright law, a measure that is being tested in ways unimaginable when it was codified 30 years ago."  URL:  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/08/17/MNP7RH06M.DTL